UNIMAK (SL) CIO
Charity number: 1192536
ANNUAL REPORT
For the year to 31 December 2023
Francis Taylor Building Temple, London EC4Y 7BY
October 2024
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Trustees
Richard Honey KC, chair
Prof Bill Chambers Jonathan Kay
Rev Dr Bob John Koroma (resigned on 23 October 2023) Mercy Mwaura (appointed on 20 September 2024)
Adviser
Chernor Mamoud Benedict Jalloh
1 Jalloh Terrace, Makeni Kabala Highway, Panlap, Makeni, Sierra Leone
Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 December 2023
The trustees present their annual report and accounts for the charity for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Structure, governance and management
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and a registered charity, number 1192536, established under a written constitution. The charity was registered on 25 November 2020 and began operating in early 2021. The first three trustees were identified in the constitution. Additional trustees are appointed by the existing trustees, having regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Makeni, a charity in Sierra Leone and diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Freetown in Sierra Leone established pursuant to Sierra Leone’s Catholic Bishops’ and Archbishops’ Act of 1979, and the proprietor of the University of Makeni, must under the constitution nominate one trustee. The first nominated trustee was the Rev Dr Bob John Koroma and is now Mercy Mwaura.
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The trustees are advised by Benedict Jalloh, lawyer and Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at the University of Makeni. The charity is managed and operated by the trustees on a voluntary basis. The charity does not have any staff or paid advisers. There must be between three and eight trustees. The charity has one volunteer assisting it, Roxanne Hargreaves.
Objectives and activities for the public benefit
The object of the CIO is for the public benefit to advance education and learning of the students at the University of Makeni in Sierra Leone in such ways as the charity trustees think fit including by:
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(a) providing funding to the University of Makeni in order to promote the training, teaching, and qualification of its students;
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(b) awarding scholarships, bursaries, maintenance allowances, and grants to students at the University of Makeni to enable them to further their education;
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(c) providing funding to the University of Makeni for infrastructural developments;
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(d) providing assistance to the University of Makeni in relation to the installation of academic and administrative management systems;
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(e) providing assistance to the University of Makeni to build networking and exchange schemes for the development of the staff and students of the University of Makeni; and
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(f) providing funding to the University of Makeni for the promotion of research and the publication of the useful results of such research.
The charity has the power to do anything which is calculated to further its object or is conducive or incidental to doing so. The charity trustees manage the affairs of the charity and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the charity.
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The University of Makeni is an educational institution established under section 43(1) of the Sierra Leone Universities Act 2005, and registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee for charitable educational purposes under section 22(1) of the Sierra Leone Companies Act 2009 for the promotion and advancement of tertiary education in Sierra Leone. The charity works closely with the University of Makeni but is independent of it.
The first meeting of the trustees was held on 24 February 2021. At this meeting, the trustees discussed how to take the charity forward, including that it intended to achieve as well as how it would operate. It was agreed that the primary role of the charity would be to receive, manage and disburse funds in accordance with its objects, and that the charity would collaborate with the University of Makeni in raising funds, rather than undertake a primary fundraising role itself in the first instance. The trustees also discussed and agreed how the charity would operate practically. It was agreed that the charity would be run, at least initially, on a pro bono basis and should not therefore need to raise funds to cover the costs of its own activities. The trustees would carry out the administration of the charity themselves unless and until the task demanded professional assistance. It was agreed that Benedict Jalloh would be the link between the charity and the University of Makeni, managing the relationship between the two, and would advise and support the trustees as necessary in their decision-making. This role would include facilitating discussions between the two and working with the University to seek potential donors to the charity. It was agreed that the first priority should be to establish the scope of the working relationship with the University of Makeni.
Following discussions, during 2021 it was agreed that the charity and the University should collaborate in the production of a fundraising strategy, bearing in mind the University’s strategic plan. During 2022, the focus of the charity’s work was the scoping of the proposed fundraising strategy. On 11 to 13 October 2022, the chair of trustees, Richard Honey, made a three day fact-finding visit to the University of Makeni (at his own expense). This visit included meetings with senior officials of the University, visits to and meetings with various academic and administrative Departments of the University, and working sessions on the fundraising strategy with Shaza Dous, Sister Janet Odey and Benedict Jalloh. Following this visit, the trustees decided that it would be necessary to obtain some expert assistance to work with both the charity and the University to develop and draft the fundraising strategy. They arranged for this assistance to be provided voluntarily by Roxanne Hargreaves, an experienced,
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UK-based, charity manager who has worked in Makeni previously and who currently manages a charity based in Lunsar, Sierra Leone.
During the year to 31 December 2023, the main activities undertaken by the charity for the public benefit in relation to its objects were as follows.
In January 2023, the trustees held a workshop with Roxanne Hargreaves to work through the approach to the fundraising and agree matters of principle and areas of focus for the strategy. During the first half of 2023, Roxanne Hargreaves progressed work on the fundraising strategy, including having physical meetings in Makeni with staff at the University of Makeni. Shaza Dous, who was the main University of Makeni employee working on the strategy with Roxanne Hargreaves, left Sierra Leone in Spring 2023 for work in Syria. Although she continued to work on the strategy voluntarily thereafter, progress was understandably slow.
A first draft of the strategy was provided to the trustees by Roxanne Hargreaves in June 2023. This was reviewed by the trustees over Summer 2023. A workshop was held by the trustees with Roxanne Hargreaves in early September 2023, to talk through the first draft of the strategy and make suggestions as to where further work was required and what more should be done. Richard Honey had a remote meeting with Benedict Jalloh on 30 September 2023 to discuss how best to progress the strategy. Following this, Roxanne Hargreaves had further physical meetings in Makeni with University of Makeni staff during the last quarter of 2023, to advance a further iteration of the fundraising strategy, working with Sister Janey Odey in particular, assisted by Benedict Jalloh.
The trustees were notified in September 2023 by the University of Makeni, through Benedict Jalloh, that, following the appointment of Rev Dr Bob John Koroma as Bishop of Makeni, he wished to resign as the University-nominated trustee. The trustees had a formal meeting on 23 October 2023 at which they accepted the resignation of Rev Dr Bob John Koroma. The University subsequently nominated Mercy Mwaura as his replacement.
These activities furthered the charity’s objects for the public benefit, by making progress with the development of the fundraising strategy, which is essential to the charity in achieving its objects and which should enable the raising of funds by the University to allow the charity to provide funding and grants in line with the charity’s objects.
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The trustees have taken the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance into account and had regard to it when exercising any powers/duties and making decisions to which the guidance is relevant.
Achievements and performance
The main achievements during the year 2023 were to make progress with the development of the fundraising strategy and for a first draft of the strategy to be produced.
There was limited engagement from the University of Makeni in the first half of 2024, so the chair of trustees visited the University of Makeni in late May 2024, with Roxanne Hargreaves, to renew interest in the collaboration and discuss and agree practical steps to finalise the fundraising strategy. The meeting on 28 May 2024 at the University of Makeni was attended by Richard Honey and Roxanne Hargreaves, with Prof Joe Turay (Vice Chancellor), Sister Janet Odey, Mercy Mwaura (Director of the Projects and Partnerships Office), and Benedict Jalloh. The University officials confirmed that they wished to proceed with the work and said that they were working on an iteration of the University strategic plan. It was agreed that, once that work was further advanced, a one day workshop should be held at the University with key staff, including those who would be responsible for the implementation of the strategy once adopted. At that workshop, Roxanne Hargreaves would make a presentation on the draft fundraising strategy and lead a discussion, aimed at achieving specific actions and timescales from the University to complete the strategy. The workshop was held on 23 October 2024.
It is proposed that in 2025 the charity continues to collaborate with the University of Makeni to finalise the fundraising strategy. It is proposed that, in due course, additional trustees would be appointed to assist the charity with moving from the planning to an operational phase, to bring additional skills and experience to the charity.
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Financial review
During this reporting period, the charity did not have any assets or liabilities, and did not receive or pay out any money. Receipts and payments accounts have been prepared showing this, with nil entries in all respects. The charity has given no guarantees and has no debt outstanding. The charity did not receive any significant non-monetary resources. No remuneration or expenses were paid to any trustee. The charity does not have a policy on reserves, as it has no reserves currently.
The trustees declare that they have approved this trustees’ report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Richard Honey KC Chair of trustees 29 October 2024
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| UNIMAK (SL) CIO | 1192536 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a | |||
| For the period from |
1.1.23 | To | 31.12.23 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| None | - | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
- | - | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
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| None | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
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| - | ||||||
None |
- | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table) |
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| , None |
- | |||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
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| - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - |
- | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
29/10/2024
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| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature None Details Details None None Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) None Details None |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Richard Honey |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Richard Honey | 29-Oct-24 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
29/10/2024
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